Bass viola da gamba
Alternate name(s)
- Cello
- Violoncello
- Bass viol
Date1562-1609 ca.
Place MadeBrescia, Italy, Europe
SignedPrinted on paper label: Gaʃparo da Salo, In BreʃciaMarkingsBranded on bridge toward fingerboard: W.E.HILL & SONS
Stamped on tailpiece screw handle: W.E.HILL / & / SONS
DescriptionThis instrument was originally a cornerless bass viola da gamba. Its outline was substantially modified for conversion to a cello. The instrument has a heavily figured spruce top and fruitwood back often seen in Gasparo's instruments.
Cornerless bass viola da gamba converted to cello around the turn of the century
Top: two-piece spruce cut off-the-quarter: wide grain; prominent haselfichte figure
Back: two-piece, slab-cut fruitwood, possibly cherry; two large wood pins through back into original bottom block position
Ribs: quarter-cut fruitwood, possibly cherry; original ribs probably recut to configure as a cello with corners
Head: fruitwood; no ridge; one and a half volute turns on scroll
Neck: maple with medium curl; grafted; later
Arching: flat back with originally with bend, now flattened
Edging: almost all edging replaced during conversion to cornered cello
Purfling: double; small section of original purfling at lower bass bout
Varnish: dark brown; section of earlier orange-red varnish at center of back
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: ebony; later
Tailgut: black gut
Pegs: four rosewood
Saddle: ebony; later
Endpin: W. E. Hill & Sons endpin of rosewood with brass hardware
F-holes: rounded notch corners; deeply undercut
Linings: stained hardwood
Corner blocks: stained hardwood
Bassbar: spruce; tall; later
DimensionsLength of body: 79.2 cm
Depth of ribs: 11 cm
Width of upper bouts: 33 cm
Width of lower bouts: 39 cm
Vibrating string length: 67 cm
Total bass viola da gamba/cello length: 1248 mm
Back length: 773 mm
Upper bout width: 345 mm
Center bout width: 257 mm
Lower bout width: 444 mm
Upper rib height: 99-101 mm
Center rib height: 100-102 mm
Lower rib height: 99-102 mm
Stop length: 385 mm
Vibrating string length: 668 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 275 mm
ProvenanceLaurence Witten acquired from J. & A. Beare, Ltd., London, 1963.
Charles Beare’s father “bought it in an auction sale of Puttick & Simpson some time before I joined the firm, so it isn’t possible to take it back much further.” (Charles Beare letter, 1/18/85)
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Published ReferencesMargaret Downie Banks, “North Italian Viols at the Shrine to Music Museum,” Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, Vol. XXI 1984), pp. 14-15 with photo p. 15.
André P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), inside front cover.
Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Object number03378
On View
Not on view
1625-1630 ca.
1700-1750 ca.